Jesus: God the Son or Son of God?

Jesus is unique

THERE is no doubt at all that the New Testament presents Jesus Christ as an outstanding personality. He gives striking evidence of extraordinary powers in the miracles he performs; he makes the most penetrating observations about human life, and faith, and the true worship of God; and his claims concerning himself, as the only source of life to come, are such as no one else would dare to make. His apostles speak of him, after his ascension, as exalted to all power and authority at God’s right hand. And his own estimate of the vital significance of his person is summed up thus:

Clearly, if we are to have any hope of life to come, we need to know the truth about the person and the significance of Jesus Christ.
The popular view

Now the majority of those who have any ideas at all about Jesus, think of him as part of the Godhead: as God the Son, existing in heaven from the beginning of time with God the Father, equal in power and authority to Him, but coming down to earth to be born, as a human babe, of the Israelite maiden known as the Virgin Mary; then dying on the Cross as a sign of God’s love for mankind, before returning to heaven to resume his former exalted position. As the Holy Ghost (now more commonly called the Holy Spirit) is also regarded as part of the Godhead, this is the “Triune God” (or One in Three), as described in the Doctrine of the Trinity. The relationship between the three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost – is understood in a very subtle way by the learned theologians who defend this doctrine, and in a much more elementary way by the majority of those who somewhat vaguely accept it.

The view that “Jesus is God” is held in a rather emotional way by many sincerely religious people. Anyone who does not unhesitatingly accept this formula is immediately regarded as a “heretic” and as “unChristian”. This short work is a plea for a friendly and sincere examination of this most important subject. The author and all those who share his opinions, would stress with all the earnestness they can command, that they really do believe that Jesus was, and is, literally the Son of God. They are not Unitarians, who think of Jesus as just a very superior man; nor are they “adoptionists”, holding that God “adopted” Jesus as His spiritual Son. They believe that Jesus was God’s “only begotten Son” in the way the scriptures describe.
Not in the Bible

Now it is a remarkable fact that the ideas contained in the Doctrine of the Trinity are not found in the Bible. This is not a new discovery. It has been known for a long time, right back in the 4th century of our era. More recent theologians have said so clearly. For example, the Anglican theologian J. H. Newman, who joined the Church of Rome in 1845, wrote:

“… the doctrines (that is, concerning Father, Son and Holy Spirit) have never been learned merely from Scripture.” (The Arians of the 4th Century, page 50) [1]

Dr. W. R. Matthews, for many years Dean of St. Paul’s, London, was more emphatic:

“… the doctrine of the Trinity … formed no part of the original message. St. Paul knew it not, and would have been unable to understand the meaning of the terms used in the theological formula on which the Church ultimately agreed.” (God in Christian Thought and Experience, page 180) [1]

Many sincere admirers of Christ may well feel disturbed at this plain assertion that his great Apostle Paul knew nothing of the Doctrine of the Trinity!
How then did it arise?

To answer this question we need to know when it arose. The answer is: not till 300-400 years after the days of Jesus and his apostles. It is a striking fact that the “early Church Fathers” – the theologians who wrote in the period AD 100-300 – knew nothing of it, and frequently uttered opinions which contradict it. For the majority of them there was no question of Jesus’ being “co-equal and co-eternal with the Father”. He was subordinate to God his Father, and was regarded as a “created Being”. The teachings which now make up the Doctrine of the Trinity were the decisions of a number of general Church Councils. These are the most significant:

AD 325 First General Council at Nicea, declared that the Son was from the beginning of the same nature as the Father.

AD 381 Second General Council at Constantinople, declared that the Holy Spirit was to be worshipped with the Father and the Son.

AD 431 Third General Council at Ephesus, decreed that Jesus had two natures, a human and a divine; also that Mary was the “mother of God”, in opposition to those who maintained that she was the “mother of Christ”.

AD 451 Fifth General Council at Chalcedon, decreed that the two natures in Christ constituted only one Person and one will.

The progressive formulation of the Doctrine of the Trinity over a considerable period of time, is clearly shown when the major creeds of the Church are compared:

The Apostles’ Creed, certainly an early Creed though its exact date is unknown, expresses the relationship between Christ and God thus:

“… God the Father Almighty … Jesus Christ His only Son … conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary …” After his resurrection Christ “ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead …”

This is in complete agreement with what the Bible says. But later creeds show many additions and a different view.

The Nicene Creed, AD 325, declares that Jesus Christ is –

“the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds … God of God, Very God of Very God, being of one substance with the Father … The Holy Ghost with the Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified …”

The Athanasian Creed, of unknown date but certainly in existence soon after AD 500, is even more emphatic:

“We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity … there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate …” All are declared to be eternal, “yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal”. The Creed concludes with the ominous statement: “He that will be saved must think thus of the Trinity.”

The new teaching about the Godhead aroused much opposition from those who claimed to be holding the original beliefs. The result was bitter controversy for over a century between the Church leaders. The decisions of the Church Councils in the 4th and 5th centuries were the actions of the Church authorities determined to suppress all “rebels”. So the official Doctrine of the Trinity was elaborated and proclaimed, and its acceptance declared to be obligatory.